Back

Southwestern Chipotle Pheasant Burrito with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Tami and I recently went to a local restaurant to eat after a doctor's appointment. One of the things on the menu was Southwestern Chicken with Sweet Potato fries. It seemed appealing to me, so I ordered it. It was SO good!! It occurred to me that I had most of the stuff to make this in the pantry at home, so I thought I'd try to create my own version of it. At the restaurant, the chicken was served on a plate with a black bean and corn salsa over top of the chicken. I decided to do something a little different, by using Pheasant and wrapping it up in a flour tortilla with some rice to make a burrito.

I had several Roma tomatoes that I had bought at the store for another meal that I didn't end up using. I had been wanting to make my own BBQ sauce from scratch and that seemed like a good use for those tomatoes before they all went bad. I think most BBQ sauces start with similar ingredients, Ketchup, Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Honey and Vinegar, maybe throw in some Onions and Garlic. If you want to get fancier, start adding stuff like Bourbon, Beer, Coke or Dr. Pepper, maybe seasonings like Celery salt, Cajun seasoning, Cayenne or Hot Chili Powder. I thought I'd try to make my own Ketchup first, then add the other ingredients I wanted to use on top of it. The key, trying to figure out how much of each ingredient to use to balance the sauce. While I attempted to make my own BBQ here, there no reason you couldn't substitute it for a store-bought version and add chipotle to it for the southwestern kick. This recipe is going to make a lot of sauce, way more than you'd possible use here. If you consider making it, you might divide the recipe in half to make a smaller portion. This was my first attempt at making my own Chipotle BBQ sauce from scratch, it turned out ok, but it's not going to win any BBQ contest and could still use some future revisions. However, it served its purpose well for this recipe by instilling a lot of smoky chipotle BBQ flavor in the pheasant.

This is a pretty cheap recipe, with few ingredients, if you're using store bought BBQ sauce. If you're not into burritos, you can always serve this Pheasant on a plate with the Black Bean and Corn Salsa spooned over top of it, with the rice served on the side. These burritos are packed with a flavor, especially the Pheasant ... we were really happy with how they turned out. I ended up eating left over burritos for a few days, each day they just seemed to get better.

Ingredients

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Pheasant Rub

Pheasant Burritos

Instructions

Step #1 Boil a large pot of water. In another large bowl, fill with ice cubes and cold water.

Step #2 When the water starts to boil, add a few of the Roma tomatoes to the boiling water.

Step #3 Allow to cook in boiling water, submerged for 60 seconds.

Step #4 Remove tomatoes from boiling water straight to pot with cold water for ice bath.

Step #5 Remove from ice bath to plate after about 60 seconds.

Step #6 Tomato skins should peel off easily now. Roughly chop peeled tomatoes up into large pieces.

Step #7 Diced up Yellow Onion and Garlic.

Step #8 Add some olive oil to Dutch oven and turn heat to medium high.

Step #9 Add Tomatoes to Dutch oven and allow to cook for a few minutes.

Step #10 Add Onion and Garlic to Dutch oven with Tomatoes and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Step #11 Add Vinegar and salt, bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Step #12 Turn off heat and allow to cool. Once cool, use an immersion blender or food processor and puree into sauce.

Step #13 Add Light Brown Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar, Yellow Mustard, Chipotle, Salt, Molasses, Worchester Sauce and Celery Salt. Mixing to combine. Turn heat to simmer and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Let cool then store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Step #1 Add Black Beans to colander and rinse thoroughly under cool water.

Step #2 Drain Whole Kernel Corn, Petite Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles

Step #3 Add Black Beans, Corn, Tomatoes and Green Chilies to sauce pot.

Step #4 Squeeze juice from one lime into sauce pot.

Step #5 Add Salt and heat through for a few minutes.

Step #6 Remove from heat. Chop Red Onion and Fresh Parsley then add to Salsa. Then place in refrigerator.

Cooking Pheasant

Step #1 Heat Grill on medium heat

Step #2 While its getting warm, combine Cumin, Chili Power, Cayenne and Salt in bowl

Step #3 Remove skin from Pheasant breast and season generously with seasoning mix.

Step #4 Place on grill and cook for a 3-4 minutes.

Step #5 Flip Pheasant and then coat the cooked side with Chipotle BBQ sauce.

Step #6 Cook 3-4 minutes and flip again. Coating the other side with Chipotle BBQ Sauce.

Step #7 Continue to cook until temperature reaches 165 degrees. Coating one final time before removing from grill.

Step #8 You can serve like this on a bed of Black Bean and Corn Salsa or continue to make Burritos

For Burrito

Step #1 Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, once boiling add 1 cup of rice. Season with salt

Step #2 Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork.

Step #3 In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter on medium high heat.

Step #4 Chop or shred Pheasant Breast into small bite size pieces.

Step #5 Scoop a few spoonsful of the Rice and Black Bean Salsa into the center of a flour tortilla.

Step #6 Place a few strips of Pheasant Breast onto of the rice and salsa. Sprinkle in a little shredded cheese.

Step #7 Roll up one end of tortilla over the Rice, Salsa and meat filling.

Step #8 Fold the sides in, then Finish rolling

Step #9 Place Burritos on hot skillet, then place another heavy pan on top of them to weigh down.

Step #10 Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until tortilla is golden brown, then flip and cook other side. Weighing down with heavy pan.

Step #11 Cut burrito in half with serve with a few extra spoonfuls of salsa and lime slices.

Recipe Card

Southwestern Chipotle Pheasant Burrito with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Written by Jeff Davis Visit : Visit authors website

View Printable Page

Prep Time: 30 min - Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

10 Roma tomatoes

1 Yellow Onion, diced

3 clove(s) Garlic, chopped

1/3 cup(s) Light Brown Sugar

1/3 cup(s) Dark Brown Sugar

3/4 cup(s) Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tbsp Kosher Salt

1/4 cup(s) Yellow Mustard

7 oz Chipotle in Adobe Sauce

1 tbsp Molasses

1 tbsp Worcestershire SauceWo

1 tsp Celery Salt

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1 can(s) Black Beans ( 15 oz )

1 can(s) Whole Kernel Corn ( 15 oz )

1 can(s) Petite Diced Tomatoes, with Jalapeno and Habanero ( 15 oz )

1 can(s) Chopped Green Chilies ( 4 oz )

1 Red Onion, diced

1 bunch Fresh Parsley, chopped

1 Lime

Salt to taste

Pheasant Rub

1 tbsp Ground Cumin

1 tbsp Chili Powder

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

Pheasant Burritos

4 Skinless Pheasant Breast

1 Package of Burrito size Flour Tortillas

1 cup(s) Rice ( Jasmine )

2 cup(s) Water

1 Package of Shredded Cheese ( Fiesta Blend )

Salt

1 tbsp Unsalted Butter

Instructions

Step #1 - Boil a large pot of water. In another large bowl, fill with ice cubes and cold water.

Step #2 - When the water starts to boil, add a few of the Roma tomatoes to the boiling water.

Step #3 - Allow to cook in boiling water, submerged for 60 seconds.

Step #4 - Remove tomatoes from boiling water straight to pot with cold water for ice bath.

Step #5 - Remove from ice bath to plate after about 60 seconds.

Step #6 - Tomato skins should peel off easily now. Roughly chop peeled tomatoes up into large pieces.

Step #7 - Diced up Yellow Onion and Garlic.

Step #8 - Add some olive oil to Dutch oven and turn heat to medium high.

Step #9 - Add Tomatoes to Dutch oven and allow to cook for a few minutes.

Step #10 - Add Onion and Garlic to Dutch oven with Tomatoes and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Step #11 - Add Vinegar and salt, bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Step #12 - Turn off heat and allow to cool. Once cool, use an immersion blender or food processor and puree into sauce.

Step #13 - Add Light Brown Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar, Yellow Mustard, Chipotle, Salt, Molasses, Worchester Sauce and Celery Salt. Mixing to combine. Turn heat to simmer and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Let cool then store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Step #1 - Add Black Beans to colander and rinse thoroughly under cool water.

Step #2 - Drain Whole Kernel Corn, Petite Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles

Step #3 - Add Black Beans, Corn, Tomatoes and Green Chilies to sauce pot.

Step #4 - Squeeze juice from one lime into sauce pot.

Step #5 - Add Salt and heat through for a few minutes.

Step #6 - Remove from heat. Chop Red Onion and Fresh Parsley then add to Salsa. Then place in refrigerator.

Cooking Pheasant

Step #1 - Heat Grill on medium heat

Step #2 - While its getting warm, combine Cumin, Chili Power, Cayenne and Salt in bowl

Step #3 - Remove skin from Pheasant breast and season generously with seasoning mix.

Step #4 - Place on grill and cook for a 3-4 minutes.

Step #5 - Flip Pheasant and then coat the cooked side with Chipotle BBQ sauce.

Step #6 - Cook 3-4 minutes and flip again. Coating the other side with Chipotle BBQ Sauce.

Step #7 - Continue to cook until temperature reaches 165 degrees. Coating one final time before removing from grill.

Step #8 - You can serve like this on a bed of Black Bean and Corn Salsa or continue to make Burritos

For Burrito

Step #1 - Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, once boiling add 1 cup of rice. Season with salt

Step #2 - Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork.

Step #3 - In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter on medium high heat.

Step #4 - Chop or shred Pheasant Breast into small bite size pieces.

Step #5 - Scoop a few spoonsful of the Rice and Black Bean Salsa into the center of a flour tortilla.

Step #6 - Place a few strips of Pheasant Breast onto of the rice and salsa. Sprinkle in a little shredded cheese.

Step #7 - Roll up one end of tortilla over the Rice, Salsa and meat filling.

Step #8 - Fold the sides in, then Finish rolling

Step #9 - Place Burritos on hot skillet, then place another heavy pan on top of them to weigh down.

Step #10 - Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until tortilla is golden brown, then flip and cook other side. Weighing down with heavy pan.

Step #11 - Cut burrito in half with serve with a few extra spoonfuls of salsa and lime slices.

About the Author

Jeff Davis

You may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.